The parents of a St. Sabina basketball player filed a civil rights suit Thursday against the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago and Cardinal Francis George alleging their son was forced to play in an environment of racial hostility and that church officials failed to address the issue.
The suit, filed on behalf of an unidentified 14-year-old, recounts some of the troubled history involving St. Sabina and the mostly white schools in the Southside Catholic Conference. During the short time the South Side grammar school was in the conference, the suit said, the teenager was subjected to a racial slur at one game, a white coach refused to shake the hand of the St. Sabina coach because of his race and parents of St. Sabina players were segregated to certain seats during some games.
The lawsuit claims George, the archdiocese and the league could have done more to address the treatment of St. Sabina players. David Neely, the attorney for the family, said he will seek at least $100,000 in damages and ask a judge to desegregate the league.
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After initially being denied entry into the conference, St. Sabina was allowed into the league last June. The black parish then announced it would withdraw from the league because of what they felt was poor treatment, but decided to remain after new rules were approved aimed at addressing some of their concerns.
The parish withdrew from the league earlier this month complaining of an unwritten league rule that prevented two of their 7th grade basketball players from playing with the 8th grade team during the playoffs.
The suit also alleges some opposing teams scheduled games against St. Sabina on neutral sites because they didn’t want the team’s black players in their white parishes and that other teams poorly treated the families of the students.
The suit filed in federal court alleges that that after a game against conference rival St. Bede, the 14-year-old player was called a racial epithet and told to “Go home,” and after another game, the St. Linus coach wouldn’t shake the St. Sabina coach’s hand.
“He [the teen] felt like [racism] is not just something he has studied about in history,” the mother of the boy said.
Jim Dwyer, a spokesman for the archdiocese, said they had not been served a copy of the lawsuit and therefore had no comment.
As he was preparing for Holy Thursday services, Rev. Michael Pfleger, St. Sabina’s pastor, said after learning of the suit: “This a total shock to me.”
Chris Mallette, St. Sabina’s athletic director, said St. Sabina withdrawing from the league earlier this month was the school’s final step in dealing with their disagreements with the conference.
“We support the right for the family to do what they feel is necessary, but we’re not in collaboration with this,” he said.